Hollywood fashion designer dies

Published
8:00 pm EDT, Monday, October 6, 2008

Associated Press

LOS ANGELES -- Fashion designer Eletra Casadei, whose collections were carried in boutiques and departments stores across the nation and were seen on TV shows such as "Golden Girls" and "Dynasty," has died. She was 55.

Casadei died Sept. 27 of brain cancer at her home in Pacific Palisades, her sister Andrea Casadei Best said.

Born in 1953, Casadei graduated from Loyola Marymount University in Los Angeles and was a former fashion model.

She taught herself the skills of fashion design and opened an office in Los Angeles. She introduced a line in the late 1970s and another several years later. She claimed Old Hollywood glamour as her inspiration and fantasy dresses at affordable prices as her niche.

Casadei also created two fashion-music videos in the mid-1980s that played in stores and wholesale showrooms as well as on MTV.

Casadei scaled back her operation in the 1990s but became known for her remakes of popular celebrity dresses at the Academy Award shows. Her version of the vintage Valentino gown that actress Julia Roberts wore in 2001 sold for $169.